March 30, 2023
by Building The World
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Can the orbital commons bring the world together? That was the vision of COMSAT. It all started with a 1955 article “Orbital Radio Relays” by John R. Pierce of Bell Labs, AT&T’s incubator for new ideas. Perhaps Pierce had read … Continue reading
October 7, 2022
by Building The World
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Indigenous Peoples’ Day, recognized in 2021 by U.S. President Biden, and honored as a holiday this weekend in the United States, reminds us that new worlds are not discovered, just met. Leif Erikson associated by some with Greenland, is thought … Continue reading
January 17, 2022
by Building The World
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When Martin Luther King delivered a speech that would ring throughout history, “I Have a Dream,” he did so on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, in the nation’s capital. King’s words echoed Lincoln’s, who proposed and signed the Emancipation … Continue reading
September 9, 2021
by Building The World
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Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana, in August 2021, bringing severe wind and water. New Orleans was watching. After Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, the city built a flood-prevention system of gates, levees, pumps, and walls. Sixteen years later, almost to the day, … Continue reading
June 29, 2021
by Building The World
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Cities have an opportunity to inspire and unite urban denizens in shared values. As Toynbee demonstrated in Cities of Destiny, the metropolis can create a unique cultural climate. Many urban centers possess iconic monuments, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, … Continue reading
January 28, 2021
by Building The World
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Wave Goodbye to Loon. The visionary project, to beam down the Internet from floating balloons, called it quits. For nine years, Google/Alphabet sent up as many as 35 floating globes – the size of tennis courts – with the goal … Continue reading
January 21, 2021
by Building The World
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Washington, D.C., setting of two distinctly disparate 2021 events on 6 January and 20 January, was designed for public gatherings in wide open spaces. Major Pierre L’Enfant, born in France but an ardent supporter of the American Revolutionary War who … Continue reading
February 6, 2020
by Building The World
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Finding common ground among nations joining in regional agreements is difficult enough: policies on issues from food to energy to trade must be deliberated. And then, there’s the name. While the “New Nafta,” launched 29 January 2020, was named top-down … Continue reading
October 19, 2019
by Building The World
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Working together outside the International Space Station, Christina Koch and Jessica Meir made history on October 18, 2019 in the first all-female spacewalk. As they switched to extravehicular mobility units (spacesuits or EMUs),one noted the suit had a part with … Continue reading
March 26, 2019
by Building The World
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Singapore will mark its bicentennial this year, 2019, after celebrating its golden anniversary of independence in 2015. It was 200 years ago that two visitors rowed ashore to visit with a certain Sultan; Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles may not be … Continue reading